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Politics in the United States have always been convoluted and borderline ridiculous. Recently, they have ventured into some really Swiftian territory (Jonathan, not Taylor). In order to protect our own sanity and focus on what really matters, Ladybud has in general declined to report much on the moves of the Trump Administration.

However, the most recent attempt to fund the border wall by declaring a National Emergency is utterly ridiculous. There is no imminent threat posed by the lack of a wall, other than the threat to the ego of the man who initially proposed its construction.

The wall will not truly impact the economy, as it will only create a handful of temporary jobs. It will further segregate communities and lead to increased racial profiling and international hostilities. Beyond that, there is the fact that a wall is ridiculously ineffective. There are rivers and mountains to consider, as well as the ability of individuals to dig underneath or climb over any wall that the government can build. The lack of a southern border wall is far from a national emergency.

The prohibition of cannabis actually could be considered a national emergency. Every day, at least 22 veterans kill themselves. Many civilians also commit suicide, often because they don’t have access to adequate mental health care. Cannabis has been shown to decrease suicide rates in states with both medical and legal recreational access.

If preventing suicides isn’t enough of an emergency for you, there’s that also the consideration that cannabis can act as an exit drug. It could help resolve our opioid epidemic by making it easier for people to stop opioid and opiate abuse.

Legalization would also impact the emergency status of our penitentiary system. Without cannabis prohibition, we would send far fewer people to jail and have to turn fewer violent offenders free early to make room for them.

It’s also arguable that the modern gig economy is a bit of an emergency as well. Unemployment statistics make it look like people are doing great, but the reality is that many people are chronically underemployed or juggling multiple contract gigs to try to stay afloat. Illegal cannabis industry would create thousands of jobs across the country. Some of these would be very skilled and highly paid positions.

If we have truly reached the point where we’re just going to declare a state of emergency because the situation is a hot mess, then our current cannabis policy should be a much better candidate for a state of emergency than the poorly supported concept of a border wall.